Residual
by unnafraher
Summary: Everyone has a story to share, even those of us who are left behind.


I held my head high—the cheers came and went, washing over me as I, with hands held above my head, radiated self-satisfaction. It would fade soon, of course, but this was my moment. My opponent collapsed on the duel field, his legs beneath him. The Ra student was not use to losing to girls, as was evident by his mounting tantrum. His upper lip quivered and his voice quavered as he breathed "Utterly, utterly impossible."

The students of Duel Academia fell silent as a teacher approached the duelling field and held his hands above his head. He—Chronos de Medici—had a regal air about him as he brought his left hand down, in my direction. "Second year Tsuhima Hisako shall advance to the semi-finals!"

They cheered some more, and then I woke up.

Chronos de Medici hovered above me, his face twitching slightly. His look told me all that I needed to know, so that, without a single doubt, I knew that I was in trouble. I stood up and bowed at my waist and apologised softly. With one last look-over of, me he turned around and returned to his pulpit. The lesson was resumed and the few students who had been smirking lost interest in me.

I pressed my elbows together and leaned against the desk. I would have to apologise later, I knew. Usually I did not drift off, but last night had been too special a night to sleep. Saotome Rei had been in the girls' common room, recounting the tale of her sojourn into the alternate dimension along with the rest of the school. The whole time I had been entranced, hinged on her lilt, gasping when the action climaxed and simmering with jealously when she told of how she had interacted with so many great and important people. She had even talked to Edo Phoenix for a moment and the European champion Johan Andersen (she was very specific on the detail that she had indeed been held by him, and ridden his Topaz Tiger, which she knew and remembered, even thought she had been _unconcious_).

Of course, I remembered some of the alternate dimension myself, as I had been conscious some of the time before I was turned into one of the duel-obsessed zombies. I even remember the Dis-Bands and the late nights trying to pry them off myself and friends. We never succeeded.

And Rei was not the only one who told of her adventures. Many times Chronos de Medici had recalled the time he spent with Juudai with Marufuji-san as Juudai duelled to free his friend Johan from the control of Yubel. Afterwards, he had looked over an exhausted Johan until they were all brought back to their proper dimension. And what relief had followed seeing everyone alive— followed immediately by panic. Where was Ekou? Amon? Where was the hero, Juudai? Luckily, he had come back, though more like shot back, soon after. Marufuji-san swore that Juudai crashed into the island as a star. He was a celestial boy, after all, with a destiny worthy of the empyrean that sparkled with an infinite amount of stars and planets.

Someone nudged my shoulder. I turned, and Yamada was looking at me with that stupid grin on his face, his hair hanging in his face.

"Ready, Hisako? Class has been over for ten minutes."

I looked around. Everyone else had gone.

"Of course, I am, dork. I was just..."

"Thinking?" he offered.

"Yeah."

"You think too much." He brought a hand to his head and made several swirling gestures. "Your brain will end up as mush."

I pushed him away from me and sighed. Yamada was a second year Obelisk student as well. He had been following me since the alternate dimension incident, had actually been the reason I had survived so long. At that time he had locked us in a closet in a quick-thinking move. We were locked in there for six hours, trying to waiting out the assaulters. Afterwards we tried to make our way to the library ("zombies don't have brains, so they won't be there") but I ended up falling when were we blind sided by another Obelisk student who ran a mean Ebon burn deck. As for him, he does not like to talk about what had happened after that.

"And you don't think enough—I make up for your silent mind."

"No, my mind is still," he added brightly. "Yours should be silent."

I let a small smile grace my lips. Our terms. He used Saint of Stillness. He had given me the partner card, Saint of Silence, as a gift for my sixteenth birthday.

With my books and his in his hands, we ascended the stairs of the classroom and exited into the relatively quiet hall. I saw the sun skimming the horizon as we turned a corner.

Titus (he _swore _that was his given name despite his heritage) began a monologue about duel strategy. He had been in the same dorm as Daichi the amazing strategist and mathematician, and had pictures to prove it. One would not believe the amount of writing on the walls...and he had witnessed a duel set in the stars...Juudai had beaten a true genius...

Silence reigned in the hallway as we walked, the only sound coming from his mouth. The rest of the campus looked silent from my vantage point; even the waves broke silently.

...

That was the problem with this Academia these days. Ever since they—the legendary students— left this whole island had become terse and laconic. One day those who remembered them of their adventures would leave as well. Two years for us students, maybe a decade or two for the teachers. Stillness of time was what was needed to preserve the memories. This time, the silence came from motion. It should have been that they all were remembered, their trials and joys and entire lives resounding in this corner of time forever. The universe was made of noise, after all.

"Hisako, were you listening to me?" Yamada asked, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Not at all."

"As I thought. Really, you need to cool it with your brain sometimes."

"I'll think about it," I said nonchalantly. I stopped and looked out the window. The horizon was a pleasant pink and the sun was a bright wafer. I would see this again for sure, as the sun always set, but I would never again see it quite like this.

We would never see the Academia again the same way, either.

This year had been...silent and still. Maybe the night was approaching—had already approached— our school as the sun that was Juudai set. With him he took all the adventures and fun. An age was ending and a new one was dawning. On a cusp now...but it was silent.

"Hisako, are you worried?"

"...I think that someday something might happen. But we'll have to make our own fun. And, in the meantime, keep their tales alive."

"Don't you think it is time to let them go? Part of living is moving on—letting go and allowing for change. Besides, I don't think they would want to be residue."

I looked at him, regarded him seriously.

"You know..."

"Just let them go. You need something new to think about, anyway."

I nodded.

A host of things were better left unsaid. Juudai had not said goodbye to his friends. Fujiwara would be graduated even with his shortage of appropriate credits...And then I remembered that someday Asuka would be back as a teacher. So maybe another decade.. Tomorrow's girl, as the exchange student had called her. The legacy would live longer, even if it was still silent.

Then the sun set.

"Hisako, are you really going to let it go?"

"Eh." I shrugged.

"Why is it that you chase after them?" He held out his palm so that it was supine to the floor. "Why do you have to look up to them, always think about them?"

"...If I can't look at other people, how can I even begin to look at myself?"

This time it was he who shrugged.


End file.
